Friday, 18 September 2015

Return to Ripley - Part III

The last of my Ripley posts (for this year, anyway) is here. Come walk with us around the grounds and the village. There is lots to see!

We met this friendly cat in the woodland part of the grounds. It would have liked us to play with it much longer, no doubt, and came hurrying after us when we left. We were relieved when a couple of people came up the path in the cat's direction to provide fresh entertainment:

At the far end of the grounds, a "Foodie Festival" was taking place. Lots of cars, people, music and general noise there; not what we were looking for. There was hardly anyone about outside the festival area, and we enjoyed the walk which offers beautiful views of Ripley castle from nearly every spot, with or without water:

Back in the village. The neo-gothic building was originally meant to be Ripley's "town hall" (not that it ever was a town!). It looked empty, with renovation works going on. I'd love to explore inside - doesn't it look like a house harbouring a dark secret, or the residence of a gentleman Vampire?

What a pretty place to sit and have a cup of tea!

See the starfish above the arch?

So, this was Ripley. We ended our excursion by having one of the "world-famous dairy ice creams" from the village shop. To be honest, that was something of a disappointment; it was so fattish - not the lovely creamy kind, but rather like low-quality ice cream which I am sure it really wasn't. Mine was supposed to be coconut flavour. All I could taste was... fat. Like licking a bit of chilled lard. But people were queuing to buy a cone, so I guess it was just us who didn't like it.Nevertheless, it had been a great day out, and we were ready for the bus to take us back to Ripon.

Licking chilled lard! That just sounds.....gross! But I enjoyed reading about the rest of your time in Ripley. The town hall is intriguing and I had to smile at your phrase "gentleman vampire". You were very expressive in your descriptions of Ripley!

A most enjoyable tour with my breakfast. Thank you. I loved the cottage with the table outside: it looked like a perfect place to which to retire. I thought the rooster was artificial for a second: lovely and plump. The starfish fascinated me: what, I wonder, does it represent hanging over the doorway like that?

Graham, the starfish is part of the Ingilby family's coat of arms. They have been owning Ripley (the village) and Ripley castle for 700 years. It is certainly not your usual coat of arms animal - mostly, they are wild, strong creatures such as lions, eagles, bears, stags and boars. I've had a quick look at the Ingilby family history's website but could not find an explanation as to why a starfish of all things was incorporated.Yes, that cottage with the table outside looked so very inviting to us, too.